Three Ways To becoming A More Consistent Mixer

Let me ask a question… do you think that McDonald’s has the best hamburgers in the world? They are certainly good, but not the best in the world.

So why do billions of people go to McDonald’s to eat lunch? No matter where you are in the world, you will find McDonald’s on some busy corner packed with hungry patrons. Why has McDonald’s been so successful? It’s probably not the flavor of their burgers…

I think the reason McDonald’s has been so successful is consistency. No matter where in this world you go to get a big Mac, it’s going to taste about the same as anywhere else. It’s consistent.

I’m trying to sell you on being a McMixer, but being consistent is a game winner.

Here are three ways that you can become more consistent in your mixing.

Use References Mixes

I know you’ve heard me talk about this time after time, but it is THAT important. Our ears change over time. Not just a lifetime. They can even change over the course of a day.

I’ve worked with “challenged” singers and musicians before where at the beginning of the day, I perceived their performance as, well… bad. But by the end of that same day, I found myself saying things to them like, “very good”… and meaning it!

It’s not necessarily that the singer improved over the course of the day, but my ears adjusted to the level of their ability.

My ears changed over the course of the day.

On the other hand, I have worked with awesome singers that blew me away within the first 10 minutes of our session only to find myself later that day saying, “I think we can get that better”… and meaning it too!

My ears changed over the course of the day.

Your ears change too. When you’re mixing, why not reference something that you believe to be consistently good no matter where you are listening to it.

Build workflows

I found over my years of mixing that if I mix what’s most important or what I want to hear the most in the mix, it tends to be louder. this is part of my workflow now. I just naturally makes what needs to be loudest last. It’s a workflow. It my mixes more consistent.

I tend to use the same reverb settings almost every mix. I’ve also discovered that some of my favorite mixers do the same thing. Why would you want to waste your brainpower coming up the next big reverb that probably sounds just like the last big reverb.

Find the reverb you like, and save it as a preset. Better yet, build this into your template. These are all part of your workflow. It helps you be more consistent.

Meet your deadlines.

No matter how good you are, if you can turn in a master to your artist or producer when you say you can, then you are considered To be inconsistent. “Well, I would love for so-and-so to mix it, but there’s no telling when we begin the master back”.

The way that most engineers brains are put together, we would probably mix recalls from now until Kingdom Come. But in the real world, we live and die about what we turn in as finished. No mix is ever really perfect, Only perfect enough.

Don’t just be a good mixer. Be good at finishing your mixes on time.

This is definitely not and all-inclusive list of ways to be more consistent in your mixing. So, in the comments below, share your tips with me.